Hazardous weather events and atmospheric monitoring using satellite navigation systems
O.G. Khutorova, M.V. Maslova, V.E. Khutorov
Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, Kazan, Russia
Keywords: GNSS monitoring, atmospheric convection, severe weather phenomena, mesoscale inhomogeneity
Abstract
Atmospheric monitoring from global satellite navigation systems is usually used to estimate the integral water vapor of the atmosphere. In addition, such parameters as the zenith tropospheric delay of satellite radio signals and its gradient parameters characterizing atmospheric mesoscale irregularities measured with high temporal resolution. The work shows a significant variability of these atmospheric characteristics associated with sever convective weather phenomena. A sample of several hundred events of severe weather phenomena corresponding to available observations of the nearest satellite stations in the Republic of Tatarstan and Moscow region located at latitudes 55-56° N is used. It was found that under the conditions of severe weather phenomena, the inhomogeneity of the zenith tropospheric delay field of satellite signals strongly increases which manifested in the increase in its gradient parameters and their fluctuations, as well as in the growth of the integral water vapor. The intensity of fluctuations of integral water vapor most strongly changes if the station is located not further than 20 km from a hazardous phenomenon, which is explained by the size of convective cells. However, even at the station location at distances of up to 200 km from hazardous phenomena, an increase in the atmospheric integral water vapor and the effect of amplification of inhomogeneity as compared to mean multiyear data are observed.
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